The inevitability of Change

Posted on Thu Dec 7th, 2023 @ 2:16am by Lieutenant Tyler Rehman

783 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Mission 1 - Project Concord
Location: Starbase 302
Timeline: Before Launch - an Introduction

Tyler Rehman wasn’t nervous perse, no, not nervous… more like anxious and excited rolled into one tiny five-foot six ball of energy. The Concord was a Nebula class vessel, much larger than the Franklin. In a way it was daunting, but the prospect of a ship with newer technology, better sensors and science facilities had made this transfer a tad bit easier to deal with. He was going to miss Noah, and the letter he held in his hand felt heavy, but he had made a promise not to read it until he was settled into his new assignment. If anything, Tyler was a man of his word. He opened his duffle and placed the letter in a side pocket and zipped the dark gray, standard issue duffle back up and made his way to dock that took him to his new assignment.

Normally, Tyler would have been running headfirst into this new adventure, but this time he took his time as he walked the main corridor. Many officers had passed him, wearing the various colors that represented the departments in Starfleet. Some had one pip, some had two or three, others had NCO ranks, or some had nothing on their collar at all. No matter what the color collar was, no matter the lack of pips or a ton of pips, everyone played a part in Starfleet. Everyone had a function; everyone kept the fleet going. There was some comfort in knowing that they were all one big team, from the technician to the fleet admiral… well maybe not any of the brass, because according to his father, they didn’t do much beyond sitting at desks. Whether that was true or not, he wasn’t quite sure, but he also trusted his father and his years of experience.

As he walked, he thought about his family, his dad already knew of the transfer, but his messages to his mom and siblings would reach earth in the next few hours. He expressed how much he missed them but was happy that he would get the chance to become familiar with a new vessel. He of course would miss the Franklin, his friends, and especially Noah, but he had to believe this was a good thing. He didn’t know much about the mission profile for the Concord, just that he had a day to report in. It made sense, he was not going to be privy to all the information. But he knew Nebula class ships were part explorer and part work horse and that suited him just fine. Even if it didn’t, it would eventually. That was how he saw the universe, that everything was meant to be, that he was meant to be transferred at this place in time in his career. Sure, it saddened him, but he also felt good about this.

He continued to walk the main corridor, his eyes flitting back and forth at the various lounges that people could eat or have a drink before they would be off to their next assignment. He noticed a man and a woman, him wearing the uniform color of operations, and her wearing the color of the sciences. The couple embraced and then kissed passionately. Tyler found his cheeks grow warm with the open display of affection, the two were either seeing each other after a mission, or about to depart and go their separate ways. That was the thing, spouses, or those in a relationship didn’t necessarily get a chance to serve together. There were also many ships that were not equipped to carry families. He briefly wondered how relationships even managed this type of separation, but he remembered that was his parents marriage. His mother rarely ventured out of the solar system, and his father would be gone for weeks and months at a time. There was once he went on a three-year tour. That was hard on his mother.

Within another twenty minutes, he made it to the dock and the small transport that would take him to his next assignment. He still had some time, so he headed to the lounge attached to his docking port. He went to the replicator, ordered a hot beverage, and sat heavily into one of the lounge chairs. He dropped his duffle onto the deck. Outside of the large viewports he could see the Franklin still docked, it’s warp and impulse engines dark due to the shutdown. The smile on his lips was soft as he sat back and watched the starships of various classes came and went.

--
Lieutenant JG Tyler Rehman
Science Officer
UCC Concord

 

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